In the telecommunications industry, high frequency signals are commonly transmitted across coaxial cables. From time to time, such cables must be interconnected. For example, it is desirable to provide an interconnection point between two pieces of telecommunications equipment to provide a convenient location in a telecommunications system for accessing signals as well as monitoring signals from time to time. It is also convenient to aggregate these access locations in a single rack of equipment both for efficiency and to allow patch cables to quickly and easily route or reroute a communications signal between or around telecommunications equipment.
There is a need to protect the coaxial cables from lightning and power surges. Protecting the cables from power surges, while maintaining efficient use of space associated with the racks, is a concern.